Hydraulic turbine



Patented Sept. 25, 1928.

" UNI/TED srarss eA-TENT oFries.-

.WILLIAM M.' WHITE, or iviinwluixiiii,v l wisceiisin.

HYDRAULIC TU nBiNn.

Application led August 23, 1926. Serial No.' 130,819.

This invention relates in general to imthe turbine rotor through a. speed ring hav ingvan'annular series 'of iixed vanes therein and formed to deliver they water inwardly past van annular vseries of ymovable guide vanes7 toward the rotor.y The fixed speed ring vanes are ordinarily disposed tangentially with respect to' a circle cireumscribing the rotor axis, and tlie'movable guide vanes cooperate with the fixed speedvring vanes to contro-l b'oth'vthe quantity of water admitted to the rotor andthe degree of Whirl of the entering water. `Whenutilizing some j, iiorms ot movable guidevanes, and especially the well known iorm having unsymmetrical cross-section with respect to the pivotal axes thereof, it is l'ound that the 'movable guide vanes do not properly cooperate with the lixed speed vring guide vanes in oider to insure uniform admission of liquid at all portions of the annular inlet conduit.v The unsymmetrical type ot guide vane is however relatively r eliicient, and it is an object oi the present invention to enable the use of this highly eili-V cient type ot' movable guide vane while i'e taining eiiective admission of liquid to all portions of the rotor. In accordance with the present invention, some ot the movable guide vanes are shaped differently from others and the guide .vanes are so located relative to the speed ring vanes, that uniform admission. of 4 desirable throttling, the alternate movable fluid through all portions of the inlet conduit is obtained. Y l A clear conception of an embodiment of the invention and of the mode of construct-V ing devices in accordance therewith, may be had by'referring to the, drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specilication in'which like reference characters designate the same or 4similar parts in the several views.

Fig. l is a central verticalv sect-ion through a Francis type of hydraulic turbine.

to the rotors oi suchy Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse 'section :through the inlet mechanism of a Francis type hydraulic turbine embodyingvthe improvement. i

- The hydraulic turbine unit to wh'ich'the in-V vention has been specilically applied byway ot illustration, comprises in genera-la rotor 2 disposed within a casing formed of top rand bottom sections 6, 13, and adapted to receive a supply of operating liquid 'such asr water iroin an annular inlet conduit 9 and to deliver the liquid toa drai't tube '10 of usual construction. Theinlet conduit 9 communicates .with an annular speed ring y7 which sur-V rounds the i'otor axis and 'provides an in' waidly directed inlet passage. The inlet'passage of the speed. ring 7 is spanned by an ann nular series of hxed speedring vanes 5whicli are preferably'disposed tangentially with'respect to a circle c ircumscribiiig the rotor. axis;

1in annular series of adjustable "or movable l guide vanes 3, 4L, is ldisposedbetween the fixed vanes 5 and the periphery ofthe rotor 2, each of the movable vanes being supported in the casing vtop and botto-m sections 6, l3by means l of a pivot 8. All of the movableguide vanes 3, lare simultaneously adj ustableabout their pivotal axesby adjusting mechanism l1 associated 'with the vane pivotsS. The vane.l

adjusting mechanism y1l is associated with the top section@ of the turbinecasing, and

this top section also providesl a support for the ina-in shaft 12 ofthe turbine. y

iis will be apparent from Fig. 2, the movunsymnietrical in shape. ot a type well known in the art andare extremely eliicient in operation. type of movable vanes 3 are employed throughout the inlet portions ot' theV vanes y' disposed between Vthe successive speed ring vanes 5, .undesirably throttle theU inlet pas-Y sages adjacent to the inner 'faces of the speed ring vanes 5. In order to eliminate such unapparent that the ruse of symmetrical inter-` mediate vanes l` in conjunction with the unsymmetrieal vanes 3 adjoining the speed ring vanes 5, produces uniform inlet passages coin- `t the saine 'au able guide vanes 3 which aiedisposed directly y in line with the rfixed speed ring vanesl 5', are These vanes are structure t distribution and admission of liquid through all portions of the inlet conduit within whichV the movable vanes are disposed.Y This result is obviously effected without materially altering the shape of the passages between the movable guide vanes 3, 4, thus maintaining lsubstantially thesame high efficiency which is obtainable with thev use ofvunsymmetrical varies 3 alone. The movable vanes 3, 4 may be readily formed to insure tight closing and proper cooperation therebetween at all times, and while these vanes have been illustrated somewhat diagrammatically, both types of vanes 3, .4 aie of well known construction in the art. n Y

It should be understood fthat it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact details of construction and arrangement of the elements hereinshown and described, for various modifications Within the scope of the claims may occur to persons skilled in the art- It is claimed and desired to secure by Letters Patent:

l; In combination, a rotor, a series of fixed Y vanes disposed about the axis of said rotor, Y and a'series of movable'vanes located 4bei tween said fixed vanes and said rotor, some of the movable vanes having different shape il than others.

2. In combination, a rotor, a series of fixed vanes disposedabout the axis of said rotor, and a series of movable vanes located between said Afixed vanes and said rotor` alternate movable vanes of said series having like'shape and adjacent movable vanes having different shape. Y

3. In combination, a` rotor, an annular series of fixed vanes disposed about the axis f of said rotor, and an annular seriesv of movable vanes 'located between said. fixed Vvanes and the said rotor, some of the'inovable vanes having different cross-sectional shape than other 4 y 4. In combination", a. rotor, an annular series of' fixed vanes disposed about Aand tanvrgeiitially relative to a circle circumscribing they axis of' said rotor, and an annular series of movable vanes located between said fixed vanes and said rotor, alternate movable vanes of said series liavinglike transverse crosssection and the adjacent movable `vanes hav-v ing different transverse cross-section.-

5. In.y combination, a rotor, an annular seriesy of f1 xed vanes disposed about the axis of said rotor, and an annular series of movable vanes located between said fixed vanes and said rotor,rthe number of movable :vanes beine' Oieater than the number of' fixed vanes o a and some of said movable vanes ferent shape than others. Y

6; In combination, a rotor, an.V annular series offixed vanes disposed about the axis being of difof saidrotor, an annular series of movable vanes each having unsymmetrical cross-section disposed inline with said fixed vanes,

and a second series of movable vanes having symmetrical cross-section disposed between the movable vanes of said series. i

7. In combinatiom a rotor, an annular series offixed vanes disposed about the axis" of said rotor, and an annular series of niov-v first i mentioned 

